Stolen Minishots
by lupuscarmen13
Summary: A collection of short side stories to Stolen. Thank you for being so loyal and helping me hit 100 reviews and beyond! 3
1. PERCY: TASTE THE RAINBOW

…**whatever I was expecting THAT was not it. As of now, 28 FREAKING REVIEWS for ONE update?! -flails all over the place and has foam fuzzing from corner of author's mouth- I seriously thought I had a WEEK to write this thing and have it up before we reached that, and at least one update...**

**not overnight!**

**-crying-**

**You guys are amazing and perfect and wonderful and HERE is your first minishot.**

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**12/3/14: I'M SO SORRY. SO SO SO SORRY. I SHOULD HAVE POSTED THIS BACK IN THE SUMMER AND NOW IT'S WINTER AND I'M SOWWY. :( Here it is. I'm working on the next few as I post this.**

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**Warning: Important Spoilers for anyone before Chapters 12-14. Do not read if you haven't reached this point.**

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**Minishot #1: Taste the Rainbow**

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**PERCY**

I suppose forcing myself into control wasn't the best plan.

Even three days after my return, painful headaches and shaky limbs plagued me. Inside, I could feel River railing, screaming for me to release him.

_Chill, dude_, I would tell him. _You've been in control for months- and it was my body first. I'm not stupid. I'm not going to risk Thalia's or anybody else's life just to reveal myself._

So. Yeah. Back to the story.

About three days after seizing control and waking up in the infirmary, I was lurking in my cabin, fiddling with my old stuff. It was around eleven in the morning, which meant lunch would be in an hour. I wasn't really hungry though, for fairly obvious reasons.

Leaning over, I picked up the cane that was leaning against the bedpost and spun it in my hand. Light spun off it as it transformed into a sword. There were times when I loved magic.

I turned my newer sword over in my callused hand, staring at the slightly dull metal. Shadowfoot. The few times I had been forced to used a weapon at camp, it had always been this one. After all, Riptide would have been recognized. Unlike my pen-sword, which was, as I had found out, a Xiphos (I _so_ cannot pronounce that), Shadowfoot was a basic claymore River and I had won from a monster shortly after escaping Tartarus

I sighed and spun the sword in my hand in the other direction, watching as it shrunk to the size of a stick. I slipped it into my pocket. The soft, almost inaudible sound of crashing waves seemed to grow louder for a second as the sun shone gently through the window, as if the sea itself was showing its dominance to the glowing ball of fire. I smiled lightly. It was good to be home.

...and this small cabin, as lovely and comforting as it was, was unfortunately boring, I realized, standing still in the middle of the low sea stone building. I quickly slipped on tennis shoes and opened the door into a battle.

For one long moment I stood still, not sure if what I was seeing was real. A second later, a brightly colored projectile narrowly missed my forehead and I yelped, dodging to the side and into someone else.

I went sprawling to the ground, the girl landing below me.

"GET OFF!" she yelled and I froze, my breath stilling in my chest.

Annabeth?

I stared down into her gray eyes and felt my heart pound harshly against my ribs as it restarted. I quickly rolled off her, trying on River's smirk.

"Duck!" Annabeth shouted, pulling my arm. A barrage of- where those Skittles?- flew over my head and pelted into a poor satyr. "Get up, Sea-" she swallowed. "Come on!"

Annabeth wrenched me to my feet and pulled me with her, weaving through the Skittle-filled air.

"What's going on?" I shouted, ducking my head as neon green candy pieces came spiraling at me.

"Iris kids," Annabeth growled, tossing me towards the nearest cabin- Hermes. My eyes widened for a moment before I slammed into the caduceus symbol on the door.

Annabeth turned the handle, swearing softly in Ancient Greek when she felt the door locked. "STOLLS!" she shouted. "OPEN THE DOOR!"

"Ah..." a voice came from inside. "We're good, we think."

"CONNOR!"  
"Fine, fine..."

I let out a yelp as several Skittles impaled themselves into the wood next to my head. I stared at them for a moment.

"What in Tart-"

"Open the door!" Annabeth shouted, her hand twitching around the handle of her knife. I wilted a bit at the irritated fury in her eyes.

"Coming, coming," Connor muttered.

"You're stalling!" Annabeth growled, her gray eyes flashing.

"No," Travis called cheerfully. "We're Stolling."

I groaned, trying not to grin. Same old Stolls...

The door open just as the Iris kids gained on us, spotting us.

"TASTE THE RAINBOW!" Butch shouted, a mad gleam in his eyes. I yelped, diving forward.

The door slammed shut behind us. A pattering sound, unlike rain, followed soon after.

Connor quickly locked the door above my head as I got to my feet, holding my head. "Ow..."

"Okay, River?" Travis asked from the bunk bed, his legs swinging.

"Huh?" I said, blinking.

_Idiot,_ River whispered.

"Oh, yeah. I'm fine," I said, rubbing my head. I just knew that a giant knot the size of Zeus' toga was going to pop up there...

"Hmm..." Connor said, peering at my head. "I don't know-" he said.

"You seem a little disoriented," Travis said, hopping down from the bed. "Maybe you-"  
"Shut up," Annabeth said, her voice filled with annoyance. All three of us wilted back. "You left us to be attacked by the Iris kids!"  
"Survival of the-" Connor started, only to have Travis slap a hand over his mouth.

"We let you in eventually," Travis said, trying to calm her.

I winced in sympathy as sparks flew from Annabeth's eyes.

"Hey, what was going on?" I asked, trying to distract her, but also genuienly curious.

"New tradition," Annabeth said, the sparks dying in her eyes. Behind me, I heard Connor and Travis sigh in relief. "Once a month the Iris kids smuggle in enough Skittles to have a war. Anyone hit has to do dishes for a week."

"Why?"

Annabeth's mouth twisted into something bitter and sad. My heart jolted, and I struggled not to rush up and be her Seaweed Brain. Suddenly, I felt heavy.

She looked so fractured. This wasn't supposed to be how Annabeth looked.

I glanced away.

"...after Percy died," she said softly, her voice dropping several decibels. "Butch thought it would be a good way to cheer up camp. And it stuck."

I glanced up again. Her smile was a little less broken now, but the heaviness in my heart stayed the same. And her eyes, her beautiful, tumultuous gray eyes were still shadowed.

_Glad you broke out?_ River asked bitterly, deep inside.

"Oh," I said, glancing away and shoving my hands in my pockets, emulating River as best I could. "I see."

Annabeth cleared her throat and glanced out the windows.

"It's over," she said. "Butch caught a couple newbies and they're out of Skittles. Let's go."

She walked over to the door, unlatched it, and disappeared into the bright outdoors. For a moment I stood still, swallowing. Then I shook my head and walked out.

I didn't know how long I'd keep control. But I was willing to make the most of it.


	2. HAZEL: FORESHADOWS & PARALLELS

**Minishot #2- Foreshadowing and Parallels**

**HAZEL**

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"Hazel!"

She looked up, golden eyes wide as a tall boy came stampeding towards her. She stood quietly in the middle of a fluorescent-lit gas station, a basket of of sundries clutched in one hand and a bag of gummy bears in her other. She blinked.

"Frank," Hazel said warmly, shaking her head. The taller teen scrambled to a stop, awkwardly standing beneath the low-hanging lights, light pink dusting his round cheeks.

Hazel tilted her head up as Frank walked the last few inches to her. He had shot up another three inches in the past month alone, and Hazel couldn't help but remember how young he had seemed in Greece, before everything changed.

He was still bulky, still his clumsy, awkward self, but he had grown into his body. He hadn't shed all his extra weight, but he had formed muscles and his face had caught up to his body.

And, as Hazel scanned his face, the lines that had formed around his lips and eyes had faded, the light in his dark eyes slowly warming them again.

The strain that losing Per- a friend was slowly and surely lessening to a small ache in both of them. Hazel remembered nights of tears, on both sides, as the pain of failing a friend and watching him die both stabbed them emotionally and brought terrible, slicing memories of the deaths of parents. They had carried their own burdens and each others, easily helping any who fell around them. When the Argo II arrived at Camp Halfblood, the two Romans had remained longer than expected to support Piper, Annabeth, Leo, and Jason. Hedge had gone off to live with his wife, but they visited frequently.

Hazel tried to forget the time she had walked in on the coach crying, slumped against a wall as a baby wailed on the other side of the house, looking so, so lost.

"The annual war games are coming up soon," Frank said, kissing her gently on the forehead. Hazel felt her cheeks flame and pressed her head into his kiss.

"They are," she said. "Reyna's been...bugging…" the slang word fell awkwardly from her lips, "...me about it for weeks."

Frank cocked an eyebrow, a trick he had finally mastered before the end of their greatest quest.

"What?" Hazel asked, staring up into his dark eyes. "What is it?"  
"You're beautiful," Frank whispered quietly, one hand cupping her cheek. Hazel felt her face flush, glancing away. In the distance, a police siren wailed, steadily drawing nearer.

"Thank you," she whispered, turning her golden eyes back up at him. She smiled and stepped back, fanning her face.

Frank was blushing, and Hazel giggled a bit. "Where are the others?" she asked, adjusting her red basket.

"Paying or waiting outside," Frank said, taking her arm. "You've got everything?"

Hazel glanced inside her basket. "I think so," she said brightly. Frank gently kissed her forehead as they walked towards the register, his presence warm and protective as they chatted with their friends while the groceries were paid for.

"So, Hazel, are you doing the games?" one of the younger kids, Jamie, asked, hefting a paper bag over his shoulder.

"I'm not sure yet," Hazel said, handing the cashier several bills. She smiled at him, then turned back to the kid. "Are you?"

Jamie grinned, a gap between his teeth. "Yeah, if I can," he said cheerfully. "I wanna do javelin throwing."

"And I want to do archery," Naoko, a girl Frank's age said, stuffing her wallet back into her backpack. She slipped her fingers through the plastic handles of the bags. "Frank said he'd help me."

Hazel glanced back at her boyfriend, who was paying for his supplies. "Did he?" she asked with a smile.

"Mama Levesque!" one of the boys called from the entrance. Hazel turned to see ten year old Cameron run in, looking panicked. Her shoulders tensed as Cameron reached them, almost crying.

"Cam, what is it?" Hazel said, putting her bags on the floor.

"Outside- Malik-" Cameron panted.

"What?" Hazel asked, her voice slow and soothing. "Speak a little slower. Is it monsters?"  
Cameron shook his head. "N-no," he said. "Some boys picked a fight with Malik and the police were called. Malik got mad and is yelling at them!"

Hazel sucked in a breath, her eyes widening. "That idiot," she whispered. "Jamie, Naoko, Cameron, stay here. Okay? Don't leave, no matter what. Naoko, you're in charge." She turned to face the pale-faced teenager who nodded with a sharp jerk of her head. A curtain of black hair fell across her eyes.

Hazel and Frank rushed outside, immediately struck with the sight of Malik surrounded by policemen.

"Hey man, I don't mean any trouble," Malik said, face already bruising and his hands in the air. The policeman in front of him shifted, narrowing his eyes in contemplation. Malik shuffled his feet and immediately the other policemen stiffened. Hazel hurried forward.

"Hazel!" Malik shouted, his eyes meeting her's in mixed relief and panic. His shoulders began to lower and he made to take a step forward, but one sharp look from Hazel had him stilling.

"He's with me," Hazel said, holding herself tall. She blinked up at the policeman from beneath long eyelashes, receipts clutched in one hand. "I'm very sorry for any problems that might have occurred while I was buying groceries. What is wrong?"

The policemen eyed her for a long moment, Hazel struggling not to shift her feet. Finally, one of them stepped away from Malik. He was tall and well-built, with handsome features. Strands of jet black hair fell into his eyes as they took in Hazel's small stance and Frank towering behind her. "We were called about a disturbance," he said finally, glancing at Frank, who was attempting to look as harmless as possible. "Centering around this boy." He jerked a finger at Malik, who bristled.

"Malik? What happened?" Hazel asked, heart still racing. She had to figure out a way to keep the situation from escalating and Malik arrested on something- or worse.

Malik scowled, crossing his arms. "Some jerks came up to me and started calling me names. And then they started makin' fun of Cameron and he got upset and I couldn't take it anymore. So-"

"So you started a fight," Hazel said.

"They started it," Malik muttered. "Do you know what they called me?" His voice was filled with frustration. "Who the hell calls people shit like that anymore? And one of them _pushed_ Cameron-"

"They did what?" Hazel asked sharply. "Was this before you started fighting?"  
Malik nodded.

"What happened then?" Hazel said, inwardly breathing a sigh of relief. It was becoming obvious that what happened was not all Malik- especially if those boys had attacked a ten year old too in what was shaping up to be a racially-based attack.

"They started making fun of me and saying I was a dirty homeless baby," Cameron said softly from behind Frank and Hazel. She jumped, turning to see the ten year old. "And Malik defended me and said he could make them cry like babies too, all it would take was a push to the ground. And then the other guys and Malik started fighting."

"Cameron, I told you to stay with the others," Hazel said. Cameron just looked at his tennis shoes.

"I think we've heard enough," the policeman said, the one that had talked to them first. "Men."

They backed away from Malik, who sagged in relief. The man turned to the boy and put a hand on his side. "How many people were there? Genders?"

"Five, all guys I think," said Malik.

"How old?"

"Little older than me. I'm 15."

"Any names?"

Malik frowned in concentration, scratching his temple. "I heard a 'Bobby' and a 'Ted'." He shrugged. "That's about it."

The man questioned Malik a bit longer and finally told him that he was free to go. He gave him a short nod and whispered something in his ear, eyes dark and serious. Malik's eyes widened and he nodded, biting his lip in what appeared to be embarassment.

He then walked over to Hazel and Frank. "You two conducted yourselves well," he said. "I greatly appreciated the cool heads the pair of you kept. I'm sorry if we frightened you both."

Hazel shivered at the memory of Malik surrounded by tall, uniformed adults. With all the stories on the news, with the memories of living in the 1930s, she couldn't shake her fear.

The man held out his hand and the two of them shook it. "Your fear isn't unguided," he said ominously. "Be careful out there, alright? It would be a shame if two good kids like the pair of you got into trouble."

The two of them nodded with dry mouths and the man left, shadow stretching long across the sun-boiled pavement.

"We should probably try to get to New York by tomorrow night," said Frank after the police cars had left. "All that probably attracted some monsters."

Hazel nodded, walking over to Malik and Cameron and offering her arms to them. They obligingly looped their arms with hers and they walked back into the shop where the kids bombarded them with questions.

Meanwhile, a very faint, very odd tremor vibrated through the soles of Hazel's shoes and a whisper seemed to hiss in the air, but Hazel simply ignored the tiny shaking. It was probably nothing, after all.

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**A/N:**

**Uh...the majority of this is symbolism and foreshadowing and parallels. Have fun.**

**Hint: Malik represents a certain person shrouded in secrets. **

**Also, Hazel and Frank are awkward and adorable and I love them. They don't get enough screentime. **

**Disclaimer: I am not trying to make a political statement, however, racism and police brutality is an issue in America and could reasonably effect the diverse characters of the series. Again, I'm not trying to step on any toes, and if I do, please PM me and I will adjust as needed. Thank you! 3**


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